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Photo Forum / General Photo Topics / Australian Photography / February 2007canon lense recommendations
I bought my girlfriend a Canon EOS 350D that came with 2 lenses as a kit - an 18-55mm and a 75-300mm f/4-5.6. We are both novice photographers still learning. I understand these lenses that came with the kit are probably not top quality, but when I bought the kit I figured they would do for our skill and price level. We are planning a trip to Europe later in the year, and are going via a stop-over in Singapore. I was thinking it may be a good opportunity to pick up lenses cheaply, but given our experience level thought it would be best to ask some experts. I was thinking about a macro lense and maybe a wide-angle lense. Some questions: - Am I potentially wasting money, and should stick with what we have until we get more experience? (Probably, but if there is great value-for-money buying Singapore now, might be worth it since don't know when we'll be back) - What are the recommendations for these and what should I look out for? - Should I stick to Canon brand lenses, or are there other manufacturers that make compatible lenses that are just as good? - Do you have any experiences, good or bad, buying lenses in Singapore? Are they good value? Some of the above question may be a bit vague. Let me know if I need to clarify. I have some months to make a decision, but want to research well before I go.  SignatureTroy Piggins ,-O (o- O All your sigs are belong to us. http://piggo.com/~troy O ) //\ O RLU#415538 `-O V_/_ OOO hackerkey://v3sw5HPUhw5ln4pr6OSck1ma9u6LwXm5l6Di2e6t5MGSRb8OTen4g7OPa3Xs7MIr8p7 >- Am I potentially wasting money, and should stick with what we > have until we get more experience? (Probably, but if there is > great value-for-money buying Singapore now, might be worth it > since don't know when we'll be back) It wont be a waste of money as your skills always grow, but then gain, why not get some experience with what you have, those lens' do well for 1000's of users world wide. > I bought my girlfriend a Canon EOS 350D that came with 2 lenses > as a kit - an 18-55mm and a 75-300mm f/4-5.6. We are both novice [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > > I was thinking about a macro lense and maybe a wide-angle lense. Both the kit lenses you mention take fine pictures - in most cases, the success of your photo won't depend in the least on the quality of the lens you used, rather your skill as a photographer in selecting the situation, location, angle, timing, framing, lighting etc. Great pictures are *never* judged on their sharpness or lack of chromatic aberration or whatever other technical aspect of lenses - I generally find people who obsess about that kind of thing are those who miss the "bigger picture". The only drawback of that lens combo, particularly when travelling, is the need to swap lenses - the classic 35mm 28-200mm lens is great in this respect as one lens allows you to cover virtually any setting, but that aside, I'd suggest you stick with the kit lenses and just go shoot, and think more about the fundamentals of good photos than the technical particulars of lenses. * Poxy is quoted & my replies are inline below : >> I bought my girlfriend a Canon EOS 350D that came with 2 lenses >> as a kit - an 18-55mm and a 75-300mm f/4-5.6. We are both novice [quoted text clipped - 23 lines] > think more about the fundamentals of good photos than the technical > particulars of lenses. Fair enough. Thanks to you and Biggus for your thoughts. SignatureTroy Piggins ,-O (o- O All your sigs are belong to us. http://piggo.com/~troy O ) //\ O RLU#415538 `-O V_/_ OOO hackerkey://v3sw5HPUhw5ln4pr6OSck1ma9u6LwXm5l6Di2e6t5MGSRb8OTen4g7OPa3Xs7MIr8p7 > > I bought my girlfriend a Canon EOS 350D that came with 2 lenses > > as a kit - an 18-55mm and a 75-300mm f/4-5.6. We are both novice > > photographers still learning. I understand these lenses that > > came with the kit are probably not top quality, but when I bought > > the kit I figured they would do for our skill and price level. > Both the kit lenses you mention take fine pictures Well obviously it's all relative. Many serious photographers prefer faster lenses with less distortion and higher resolution. However if you never shoot low light and/or action photos, and never print anything above 6"x4", then they will indeed take quite fine pictures, as you say. You can even use Photoshop to get rid of the more obvious distortions. >Great pictures are *never* > judged on their sharpness or lack of chromatic aberration > or whatever other technical aspect of lenses >I generally find people who obsess about that > kind of thing are those who miss the "bigger picture". Actually *they* are the ones who are after the "bigger picture" than 6"x4" :-) > The only drawback of that lens combo, particularly when travelling, is the > need to swap lenses - the classic 35mm 28-200mm lens is great in this > respect as one lens allows you to cover virtually any setting, Why not a P&S with 10:1 (or more) zoom then? Smaller, lighter, cheaper, longer zoom range. Simply ignore the lack of detail, excessive noise, and hundred other limitations, many people do just that :-) MrT. > > > I bought my girlfriend a Canon EOS 350D that came with 2 lenses > > > as a kit - an 18-55mm and a 75-300mm f/4-5.6. We are both novice [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > then they will indeed take quite fine pictures, as you say. You can even use > Photoshop to get rid of the more obvious distortions. Serious photographers are serious photographers, not people just starting out. I've seen 10x8's taken with the stock 18-55mm that look great - clear, clean and sharp. Of course, what strikes me about a great shot isn't the sharpness, distortion or chromatic abberation - they'd be the very last things I'd consider. > >Great pictures are *never* > > judged on their sharpness or lack of chromatic aberration [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > Actually *they* are the ones who are after the "bigger picture" than 6"x4" > :-) As I said, a well-exposed shot in decent lighting conditions will print very nicely at 10x8 (or A4). > > The only drawback of that lens combo, particularly when travelling, is the > > need to swap lenses - the classic 35mm 28-200mm lens is great in this [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > Simply ignore the lack of detail, excessive noise, and hundred other > limitations, many people do just that :-) My sister purchased a Panasonic FZ30 10x P&S and found it an utter piece of crap. Interestingly, the lens seems to be reasonably sharp, and if that was one's criteria, it's a bloody fantastic camera. The fact that it routinely produces noisy, poorly-exposed shots with a nasty colour cast has her thinking she should have spent a bit extra and got exactly the same kit as is mentioned in this thread. She's overseas again now and left the FZ30 in her drawer and took her little Ixus as it simply takes better pictures. Not as sharp as the FZ-30, but better pictures all the same. > Serious photographers are serious photographers, not people just starting > out. I've seen 10x8's taken with the stock 18-55mm that look great - clear, > clean and sharp. Of course, what strikes me about a great shot isn't the > sharpness, distortion or chromatic abberation - they'd be the very last > things I'd consider. Yep, it is the last thing many people consider. Then when they get that fantastic shot they want to blow up and frame, they wonder why it doesn't look as good as the 6"x4". > As I said, a well-exposed shot in decent lighting conditions will print very > nicely at 10x8 (or A4). As I said, it's all relative. > My sister purchased a Panasonic FZ30 10x P&S and found it an utter piece of > crap. See, it's all relative. Many people say that about the kit lenses too :-) MrT. > I was thinking about a macro lense and maybe a wide-angle lense. > > Some of the above question may be a bit vague. Let me know if I > need to clarify. I have some months to make a decision, but want > to research well before I go. What's a lense? > What's a lense? http://wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=lense HTH. :-) Signature-Mike * Fred is quoted & my replies are inline below : >> I was thinking about a macro lense and maybe a wide-angle lense. >> [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > What's a lense? It's something you attach to the end of your camerae to take a photoe with ;-) I think you know what I meant... SignatureTroy Piggins ,-O (o- O All your sigs are belong to us. http://piggo.com/~troy O ) //\ O RLU#415538 `-O V_/_ OOO hackerkey://v3sw5HPUhw5ln4pr6OSck1ma9u6LwXm5l6Di2e6t5MGSRb8OTen4g7OPa3Xs7MIr8p7 > * Fred is quoted & my replies are inline below : >> [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > > I think you know what I meant... :-D cheers |
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